Combat aims at defeating armed enemies -- regular, irregular, or both. It concludes successfully when those enemies capitulate or are destroyed. It is the demonstration of credible combat power that primarily deters aggression.
Historically, one or both of two defeat mechanisms have been employed
in combat.16 Attrition wears down an adversary’s human and material
resources. Disruption attacks his organizational cohesion or effective
functioning so that even if elements of the enemy system remain undamaged,
the enemy cannot operate as a coherent whole. Both defeat mechanisms also
psychologically affect the enemy’s will to fight.
Wallah! That is both true and useful. Good old fashioned, no nonsense common sense.

Security activities seek to protect and control civil populations and
territory -- friendly, hostile, or neutral.17 They may be performed as part of a military occupation during or after combat, to help defeat an insurgency, or in response to a humanitarian disaster. Unlike combat, they seek ultimately to reassure rather than compel. Security activities conclude successfully when civil violence is reduced to a level manageable by law enforcement authorities.
Again, useful.

Relief and reconstruction activities seek to restore essential civil services in the wake of combat, a breakdown of civil order, or a natural disaster.
This needs some qualification. Yes, to essential civil services but that does not meaning building schools or any "construction." If it's limited to saving life, then rock on.

...and we have been here before. http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...55&postcount=9